Electric cars at the VEHO Airport car dealership in Vantaa on 21 March 2025. LEHTIKUVA
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Electric vehicles continued to gain ground in Finland during the first quarter of 2025, with plug-in passenger cars now accounting for 11.2 percent of the country’s entire car fleet.
Data released by Energy Industry Finland (Energiateollisuus ry) on Friday shows that more than half of all new passenger cars registered in Q1 were plug-in models.
Fully electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 33.8 percent of first registrations, up by almost eight percentage points compared to the same period in 2024. Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) accounted for 21.6 percent.
The number of plug-in vehicles in Finland surpassed 300,000 in the first quarter, marking a return to steady growth after a slowdown in early 2024. Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, sales of electrified vehicles have remained resilient.
“Finnish consumers are doing the maths,” said Tuukka Heikkilä, expert on electric transport at Energy Industry Finland. “With Finland having the third-cheapest electricity in Europe, switching to electric driving makes both climate and financial sense.”
A key factor in the popularity of electric vehicles has been the low cost of electricity, especially for drivers using dynamic pricing. In 2024, the average price of taxed electricity between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. was under three cents per kilowatt hour. According to Heikkilä, EV drivers who time their charging to these low-cost hours help not only their wallets but also the grid.
The rapid electrification of road transport is seen as a major lever in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollutants. Finland’s clean power mix supports this shift: 95 percent of domestic electricity production was carbon neutral in 2024.
The report also highlights increasing affordability as a driver of growth. Several manufacturers now offer new battery electric vehicles for under €30,000. That figure is lower than the average tax value (€32,400) of used cars imported into Finland last year.
According to a recent study by LUT University, peak demand fees for electricity are unlikely to affect EV drivers who charge intelligently. Most users can optimise their charging to low-demand hours without increasing peak power usage. Smart charging systems that consider both price and power levels at the connection point are becoming standard.
Energy Industry Finland expects continued strong interest in electric vehicles throughout 2025, especially if economic confidence improves and charging infrastructure continues to expand.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
